LADDERS SAFETY

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The following Health and Safety hazards are identified for working using ladders. 

Occupational Health: If a person has to climb many times a ladder during his work he is likely to have: 

- Cramps in the legs, joints

- Breathlessness after climbing certain height. 

- Blisters on the palms 

Safety concerns for working on ladders are: 

- Falling from the ladder. 

- Ladder slipping off its support/the ground 

- Missing rungs on the ladder 

- Lose rungs on the ladder 

- Oil and dirt on the ladder

General guidelines for use of ladders and stairs are: 

- Ladders serving as uprights of ladder scaffolds shall be adequately constructed and thoroughly stayed. Ladder scaffolds shall be used only for light works. 

- Ladders shall consist of two uprights and a number of rungs and securely fastened to the uprights. 

- Ladders shall be so constructed, maintained and used in such a  way to ensure the safety of the workers. 

- Portable stepladders and portable trestle ladders shall not exceed 6M in length and the spread between the front and the back legs shall be restrained b safe means. 

- Extension ladders and mechanical ladders shall not exceed 15M in length. 

- Fixed ladders shall be made of suitable material and shall not exceed 9M in length. 

- Stairs shall be so constructed as to be able to withstand safely the loads that they will have to carry and be of such width and so designed to ensure the safe use. 

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Occupational health hazards associated with the use of ladders:

- The design of a ladder,  placement, location of the ladders etc are important to minimize the hazards associated with ladders. 

- The ladders, which are erected straight, shall be made up of steel flat bars of minimum 12mm thick and rungs shall be min 10mm dia rod.

- The rungs shall be welded to the flat bars by qualified welder using approved WPS.

- The ladders shall be painted with 2 coats of paint after blasting. 

- The rungs shall be evenly spaced with 300mm spacing between two rungs. 

- A cage should be built around the height of the jacket with enough provision for the person to climb up freely. 

- A straight ladder can be of max 2.0M length after and after that there will be a resting platform. 

- An inclined staircase shall be of max length 3M and there should be a resting platform. 

- All ladders and staircases shall be adequately secured at top and bottom sides either by hooks with a lock or by welding. 

- All the sharp edges on the stairs, railing, rest area shall be ground smooth. 

- Any oil, grease marks on stairs, railing etc should be washed off  / cleaned off regularly. 

- All the personnel who make use of the ladders, stairs etc should take care to walk slowly during rain. 

Exposure to dust and contact with mud and silt:

During excavation and earthworks, there is a lot of dust and earth flying around. This dust on inhalation may enter the body of the person and may cause “Silicosis” Silicosis over a period of time may cause lung cancer and breathlessness.  All the personnel working on excavation and earthworks must wear nose mask to avoid dust inhalation. 

In addition, to avoid constant contact with silt, mud etc all the workmen must wear gumboots and hand gloves.  

These requirements are enforced by the subcontractor on his personnel.  The subcontractor is also responsible to issue the PPE  as listed above to the workmen engaged for the job. 

Slippery soil, falling soil, incidents involving equipment:

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The slippery soil is a hazard associated with earthworks. The persons engaged in the job should be cautious enough to take care of themselves and work without slipping. In case of any person found slipping and complaining of sprain, shall be taken to First aid center and further to the hospital if necessary. Falling soil is another hazard associated with earthworks due to improper excavation without sequence.

In order to avoid this any loosely held material during excavation is immediately dismantled. If the work is major in nature and likely to take a longer period the edges of the excavated area are barricaded to avoid any collapsed material from falling in the working area.